Temple cleansing
As a cleansing of the temple is called a story from the life of Jesus that it will make traders and money changers out of the temple in Jerusalem drove while, preached that the temple as a "house of prayer " the worship should be reserved. The temple, as a building and with its related sacred acts, is the place of spiritual contact between man and the transcendent God ( YHWH , Elohim , El ).
Representation in the Gospels
All four canonical Gospels ( Matthew 21.12ff EU ; Mark 11.15ff EU ; Luke 19.45ff EU ; John 2.13-16 EU ) report on a temple cleansing (also: temple expulsion ) by Jesus . In the case of Markus, the story is framed by the curse of the fig tree (see 11.12–25 EU ). While the synoptics , i.e. Matthew, Mark and Luke, each place this biblical narrative at the beginning of the story of the Passion, the account of the temple cleaning can be found in the second chapter in the Gospel of John as an event in the early days of Jesus' public appearance - on the occasion of a Passover .
When Jesus saw the traders and money changers sitting in the Jerusalem temple (meaning the forecourt, which was also accessible to the Gentiles) , according to the tradition of the Gospel of John, he drove them out of the temple with a scourge made of ropes, knocked over tables and spilled the money of the changers with them the words: “Do not turn my father's house into a department store!” ( Jn 2.16 EU ). In the Gospel of Mark he justifies his act with the words: “Is it not written: 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made a den of robbers out of it ”( Mk 11.17 EU ). All the Gospels give the reader the image of an angry and aggressive Jesus in this situation; however, the scene in John's Gospel is portrayed much more turbulent and rougher than in the synoptic tradition. Unlike in the Gospel of Mark ( Mk 11,15 EU ) when the action of Jesus is directed by John exclusively against Temple staff (sellers and changers), but not against the buyer of the goods offered sacrifices.
“ 13 [...] because the Easter of the Jews was approaching, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 He found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting. 15 So he woven a scourge out of ropes and drove them all out of the temple with their sheep and cattle, spilled the money on the money changers and knocked their tables over 16 and called to the pigeon dealers: 'Get this out of here! Don't make my father's house a department store! '"
The temple aristocracy is likely to have understood Jesus' action as an open attack on their authority and source of profit, which is also seen as a reason for the decision of the religious leaders of Jerusalem to kill Jesus, as reported in the Christian Gospels. Although the pericope of the temple cleaning is not counted as part of the core of the Passion story in biblical studies, it is therefore often considered to be the actual occasion and prelude to the Passion story.
Research problems
As the sacrificial animals (ox, sheep, pigeon) for the temple cult had to be immaculate according to the Torage , the pilgrims were offered suitable, cultically pure animals for sale in the entrance area of the temple . Money changers exchanged the common circulation coins for Tyrian double drachms , which were the sole temple currency. Only with them could the prescribed temple tax be paid and one probably also needed them for the purchase of sacrificial animals in the temple. However, there were other markets in Jerusalem where sacrificial material could be obtained bypassing the temple market. The great economic importance of the transfer of cattle from regions, some of which are distant to Jerusalem, in order to meet the pilgrims' high demand for sacrificial animals, can also be demonstrated archaeologically.
Contrary to what is often assumed, the temple coins in no way corresponded to the religious prohibition of figurative representations of people and animals, rather they carried the image of the Tyrian city god Melkart (mostly depicted in the form of Heracles ) on one side and an image of the Ptolemaic eagle on the other side, who was considered a symbol of Zeus . The use of the Tyrian coins had monetary reasons, as their silver content was more stable than that of the Roman provincial coins. The activity of the changers, who were part of the temple staff, was profit-oriented, which is also indicated by the professional title used by the evangelists. In addition, changers and dealers may also give loans for the purchase of the often very expensive sacrificial animals. The prices for sacrificial pigeons, which were considered the typical sacrifice of the poor, were based on city-known courses. The temple authorities worked closely with producers and wholesalers who supplied the temple with ritually pure sacrificial material (including, in addition to slaughter animals, flour, wine and other natural products). Such deliveries can also be seen in Mk 11.16 EU , where the carrying of loads by the temple is mentioned.
The historicity of the temple action is controversial because, on the one hand, Jesus' behavior seems to contradict the renunciation of force required in the Sermon on the Mount and theological motifs dominate the scene - John relates the expulsion of the temple to the question of authority and the prophecy of the destruction of the temple ( John 2, 18-19 EU ), Markus with the opening of the worship service for non-Jews ( Mk 11.17 EU ) - and on the other hand, according to many historians, such an action should have been immediately prevented and punished by the temple police, which are particularly vigilant and strictly enforced during festive periods. On the other hand, the expulsion of the traders from the temple and the liberation of the sacrificial animals by Jesus has no historical model and no parallel, which can be taken as an indication of the authenticity of the tradition. Mediating positions suggest that the so-called temple cleansing could have been more inconspicuous and its extent much more limited than the New Testament sources describe, and it could also have taken place in a part of the temple area that is difficult to supervise.
The temple action can, among other things, be interpreted as meaning that Jesus wanted to restore the true temple cult through a prophetic act of signs or symbolically announce the destruction of the temple, that he wanted to break the economic power of the temple aristocracy or question the moral legitimation of their sources of income, or he wanted to cultic purity of the temple seen in danger by the presence of the traders or the unclean pagan money. The weighting of the possible motives by the various interpreters leads to different classifications and historical and theological evaluations of the episode.
literature
- Franz Michel Willam : temple cleaning. Pilgrim book for time and eternity, Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 1925.
- Willibald Bösen : Why did Jesus “really” have to die? In: Katechetisch Blätter 2 (1998), 76–81.
- Martin Stowasser : Jesus' confrontation with the temple operations in Jerusalem - a conflict between religion and economy? . In: Martin Fitzenreiter (ed.): The holy and the goods. On the field of tension between religion and economy (= Internet articles on Egyptology and Sudan archeology - IBAES, Volume VII). Berlin 2007, 39–51 ( online version ).
Web links
- Cleansing the Temple Reading by Mark 11, 15–19, Lecturer: Caroline Piazolo
Individual evidence
- ↑ The New Testament . 4th edition. Privileged Württembergische Bibelanstalt, Stuttgart 1923. (For standard translation see: Joh 2,13-16 EU )
- ↑ Shimon Gibson : The seven last days of Jesus. The archaeological facts. Munich 2010, p. 66; Like. Martin Stowasser : Jesus' confrontation with the temple business in Jerusalem - a conflict between religion and economy? In: Martin Fitzenreiter (ed.): The holy and the goods. On the tension between religion and economy. (= Internet articles on Egyptology and Sudan archeology - IBAES, Volume VII), Berlin 2007, pp. 39–51 ( PDF 252 KB 13 pages on 2.rz.hu-berlin.de) p. 42.
- ↑ Gideon Hartman, Guy Bar-Oz, Ram Bouchnick, Ronny Reich: The pilgrimage economy of Early Roman Jerusalem (1st century BCE – 70 CE) reconstructed from the δ 15 N and δ 13 C values of goat and sheep remains. In: Journal of Archaeological Science 40 (2013), pp. 4369–4376, here: pp. 4369, 4374
- ↑ See Reza Aslan: Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. New York 2013. p. 4.
- ↑ Wolfgang Bunte (Ed., Trans., Arr.): Kelim (vessels). Text, translation and explanation together with a text-critical appendix (= The Mishnah. Text, translation and detailed explanation. VI. Seder: Toharot, 1st treatise: Kelim ). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1972, ISBN 3-11-002463-2 , p. 232 f. (Explanation to K. XII 5a; limited preview in the Google book search).